Nothing Goes
by Manquare
Summary: (Dragoncharm fic) Ocher the basilisk has been reborn, but for what purpose? (whether you're familiar with the books or not, please give this a try!)


Disclaimer: All recognisable characters and concepts are the rightful property of Graham Edwards, and I am in no way affiliated with him. This story has been made for non-profit fanfic purposes only.

Notes: I've designed this fic so that – whether you're familiar with the Dragoncharm books or not – you'll be able to enjoy and understand it (hopefully). The main part of this first chapter is a big synopsis of all the important events leading up to Ocher's death, just to fill non-fans or forgetful fans in on what on earth this is all about. Even so, if you haven't read Dragoncharm, Dragonstorm, or Dragonflame, read them now!! They are simply the best dragon-themed novels ever!!

Another note: If anyone would like a visual reference as to what Ocher looks like, copy n paste the following links for some pictures I drew of the little basilisk:  
img11.imageshack.us/img11/3992/CIMG0228.JPG  
img37.exs.cx/img37/6933/CIMG0268.jpg  
img37.exs.cx/img37/2424/CIMG0313.jpg

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Nothing goes.

Those words were among the last thoughts of an immortal creature as it finally found the death it had craved for so long. Death for the Deathless. Was such a thing possible? It had certainly seemed that way…at first.

Everything changes, but nothing goes. Those words would soon be coming back to haunt the one known as Ocher.

In the beginning, there had been six basilisks. Bacht, Mediel, Veil, Tellere, Geiss, and Ocher. The Deathless. All of them ageless, genderless, and infinite beyond all comprehension. They had been in existence forever, for all eternity, since the beginning of time before and beyond. Time held no value for them; countless worlds passed before their eyes like grains of sand in the wind. Their knowledge and power was just as infinite as their lifespans; they knew the secrets of creation, they had witnessed the birth and death of every living thing ever to exist, they had explored every corner of the ever-expanding universe.

But all they ever wanted was to die.

To know the horror of such a never-ending existence, the sheer weight of the infinite thoughts and memories that the six basilisks held, would have driven any mortal creature to insanity in an instant. But the basilisks' immortal forms would never allow for such defects, or indeed defects of any kind. Countless times the basilisks had attempted to brutally end their own lives, only to be rewarded with the agony of their bodies being painstakingly pieced back together. There was no atmosphere they could not live in, no injury they could not live through. While the universe and all its contents constantly changed and created and destroyed and reformed, the Deathless Ones would always live on.

But whatever secrets the universe held, the basilisks would always remain most interested in the small but thriving planet known simply as Earth. For while many other planets in the universe were capable of supporting life, Earth was the only planet that Turned. The only planet whose landscape and inhabitants constantly changed as time went on. It was a feat impressive enough to capture the attention of the basilisks' timeless perception, and in the early years of the Earth's existence the basilisks would spent a lot of time there, not only because of the fascinating variety of life that dwelt there, but because of the one thing that remained constant enough to be of any real interest to the basilisks; Charm.

Charm, the new and powerful magic that covered the world like an ethereal blanket and pulsed through its earthy veins. The basilisks were uncertain as to how long the Charm had been in existence, however they did know that this magic would shape the very future of the planet. With charm, the possibilities seemed endless, not just for the basilisks but for many other creatures as well. But it was perhaps only the basilisks who lived long enough to wield Charm to its full capability, and learn all of its secrets. For a time, the basilisks were able to entertain themselves by using Charm to create many magnificent structures, but for the Deathless, such wonders were short-lived.

It was somewhere around that point in time that the basilisks could bear to be conscious no longer, and decided that if they could not kill themselves, they would simply sleep. And so the six Deathless finally parted company, each on a different path to seek out a refuge in which they could sleep through the endless years.

Aeons later, the basilisk named Ocher was the first to awaken from its slumber within the heart of a mountain. And it had awoken at a crucial point in the history of the Charmed world - the world was Turning. Ocher found that the world had changed a great deal since the last time it was awake. Charm was still abundant, but the approaching Turning would bring with it the power to wipe all magic from the world in order to make way for a new world - a world of Nature. And through all this turmoil one particular species had become a force in the changing world - dragons.

Ocher suspected that there had been a time when all dragons were Charmed. But since the power of Nature had started creeping into the world, a new race of dragons had evolved, and the world of dragons had split into two conflicting sides – the Natural and the Charmed.

Natural dragons were sleek, streamlined creatures. Their scales were generally dull tawny browns or greens, and they had no fire in their breath or magic in their power. They possessed four limbs – large powerful wings and stout hind legs – using their wing arms as awkward forelegs as well as efficient instruments of flight. They were expert flyers, and intelligent, if a little reclusive.

The Charmed dragons, however, were an entirely different breed. Wiry and awkward in shape, they possessed four limbs as well as a pair of wings mounted on their shoulders. Though because they used Charm to achieve flight, their wings were generally nothing more than comically small decorations. They could change their body shape as they pleased, and their scales could be any colour under the sun. They could breathe fire, and they could wield Charm with great efficiency.

And at the time of Ocher's waking, these two races of dragons had been at war with one another. Neither race of dragons was evil, and neither race was to blame – it was simply because the dragons of Nature and Charm did not understand each other. And the situation was not helped by the fact that both races were being forced into conflict by a pair of tyrants. The leader of the Natural army was an insane dragon named Shatter, who had forced the majority of the Natural population into believing that all Charmed dragons were heathen monsters who deserved to die. The leader of the Charmed army was Wraith – the Black Dragon – the 'bringer-of-shadow'. Beautiful and regal, yet just as unhinged as Shatter, Wraith was considered to be the most powerful Charmed dragon in existence. He was obsessed with Charm, and was determined to not let the coming Turning take it away from him. And so, in raging his war against Nature, the Black Dragon sought to find and control the Seed of Charm, in a bid to ensure that Charm would remain in the world forever. His obsession would not allow him to realise that, if he were to achieve his goal, the world itself would be wiped from existence…

Ocher, having crawled out from its sleeping place in order to witness the Turning, found itself confronted by Wraith. In awe of the dragon's magnificence, and taken aback by his immense power, the basilisk found itself being drawn to Wraith against its will. The raving dragon was quite literally _absorbing_ the basilisk into his own body, in an attempt to gain the creature's immortality and power. And for a moment it seemed that this was to be Ocher's doom – to remain a symbiotic slave to the _bringer-of-shadow_, trapped for all eternity. But it was not be, for Ocher suddenly found itself being thrown clear, as the Black Dragon was finally defeated – by a young Natural dragon of all things, who had miraculously stolen the Seed of Charm away from Wraith.

And so the world Turned, and in one instant all Charm left the world, save for a few dwindling pockets of magic that remained hidden on the far corners of the Earth. And with this knowledge in mind, Ocher began to formulate a plan.

Dragons…Charm…and the Turning. It was with these three factors that Ocher realised it had found a way for the Deathless to finally die. The Gathering of the Deathless.

Time passed, and while new challenges arose to be met by the race of dragons, Ocher had awakened its siblings and all six of them journeyed to a citadel they had built long ago in the early days of Charm, to perform the ritual of the first and only Gathering of the Deathless. But once again, the dragons were getting themselves involved. One dragon in particular – a scheming, cold-hearted Charmed dragon named Archan – knew of the basilisks' coming to the citadel. More than anything in the world, Archan craved immortality, and she planned to take the basilisks' immortality for herself, as they expelled it during the ritual.

As it turned out, the basilisks were more than happy to let her have it. For the Gathering to be a success, a living host was needed to absorb the immortality as it left the basilisks. Without a new vessel, the immortality would not leave the basilisks, for it would have nowhere to go.

And so, as the six basilisks drew forth the magic that was left in the world to form one last great wielding of Charm, Archan dived into the centre of the Circle at the exact right moment, and the Gathering was a success. In an instant the basilisks were stripped of their immortality – Deathless no longer.

Unfortunately for Archan, the sheer collective power of the event vaporized her body in a second – but a second _after _she had become immortal. Now she would have to take on the worse torture of all – immortal but completely without form. It would be a long, long time before Archan would be able to take on a solid form.

Meanwhile, in the great fire left by the charm they had wielded, the basilisks could finally embrace the death they had been wanting for so long. But out of the six basilisks, it was only Ocher – the very one who had suggested the Gathering in the first place – who found that its new mortality had given it the will to live. So while Bacht, Mediel, Veil, Tellere, and Geiss were consumed by fire, Ocher wandered away, now unnoticed and unimpressive, but fascinated by the beating of its own heart and thrilled by its own mortality.

And as the basilisk chose life over death, so did things begin to fall in place. The dragons who had not long ago been the dominant race were now struggling for survival in a world that no longer seemed to want them. Ocher's path would cross the dragons' occasionally, and it would help them on their quests where it could, for the basilisk bore the experience of many Turnings before this one.

But at the end of it all, in the last stage of the Turning, Ocher finally gave up his life. This ancient creature, who before had taken no interest in the welfare of any world, threw itself into the path of a huge comet that had been heading on a devastating path towards Earth. It was the basilisk's solidness and power, its sheer _thereness_, that caused the comet to split in two in its presence, and in so doing the basilisk had saved the planet from a terrible fate and ensured that the world Turned true. But under such an immense force of impact, it was not just the comet that had been torn asunder. In the comet's wake, Ocher had been left torn and rended beyond repair.

There, in the dark coldness of space, the ancient basilisk who had given up its immortality to discover the true meaning of life, finally found death.

Nothing goes.

The lasts thoughts of a dying basilisk were about to become its first.

Many aeons after the basilisk's remains had disintegrated to nothingness in the vastness of space, energy had slowly but surely begun swarming back to the point in space where Ocher had died, as if to fill the void that the once constant life had left behind. Particles of matter, flecks of energy (charm?), sparks of light – no, sparks of life! – all being drawn from the far corners of the universe to this one insignificant spot. And now, finally, the strange event had completed itself.

Witnessed only by the Earth and the Moon and the surrounding stars, Ocher the basilisk was reborn.

Large silver eyes opened, reflecting space. A broad reptilian head tilted as the eyes blinked. Two agile limbs, ending in spidery fingers that bore hooked claws, twitched. A long prehensile tail flexed experimentally. But then, abruptly this hesitant movement ceased, as the basilisk's mind suddenly snapped to full power, and those few seconds of newborn innocence were lost forever. Ocher slowly curled itself into a tight ball of misery as every single one of its infinite memories returned to its mind in one single instant. Such a thing would have destroyed the mind of any mortal, but the basilisk simply coped, for it had indeed been returned to its original status; immortal and ageless.

_Even after death I am doomed to live on!_ The basilisk's thoughts howled with anguish. _Everything changes, but nothing ever really leaves. This must also be true for Ocher…_

Ocher peered out from the coils of its pale body to observe the spectacle which lay before it. From where the basilisk hovered, an all too familiar planet now filled its silver gaze. Earth had been one of the last things it had seen its collision with the comet. And now the basilisk had been reborn in the exact spot in which it had perished; between the Earth and the Moon.

The sharp growl of rage and sorrow that welled up within Ocher's throat was lost to the airless vacuum of space. And so instead, the immortal creature simply shut its eyes, turning away from the Earth's planetary glare. For once, Ocher found that it _needed_ time. Time to think, time to clarify its thoughts, time to discover the whys and hows and whens.

_Ocher once again has time for many things. _The basilisk thought with grim amusement.


End file.
